


So. You want to know more about the A/B/O universe.

by moonythejedi394



Series: the same story; told different ways [12]
Category: Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Supernatural
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, Characters are tagged bc I brought them up as examples, F/F, F/M, History of the entire A/B/O world i guess, I repeat, M/M, Male Lactation, Mpreg, Non-Traditional Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Omega Verse, Physiology, This is an explanation of A/B/O, This is how not to write a research paper, With pictures, sociology - Freeform, this is non-fiction, this is not a fanfic, this is not fanfiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-24
Updated: 2018-08-24
Packaged: 2019-07-01 18:41:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,606
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15779862
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonythejedi394/pseuds/moonythejedi394
Summary: Here we are, humans minding our own business on the internet, and someone, somewhere decided it would be a good idea to create Alpha/Beta/Omega 'verse. What is that, you ask? This work answers that question and more, in a mostly SFW manner with more than one snide remark aimed at Bucky Barnes, the OG Thot, and Steve Rogers, who is an easy fuck if your name is Bucky Barnes. Why is this also tagged Supernatural? Because discussions came up in which I didn't want to use Steve and Bucky as it involved a break-up and I didn't mind breaking up Destiel. (Don't come from me, Destiel shippers.)





	1. The Physiology of Assbabies

**Author's Note:**

> _hello. if you came looking for a spn/marvel crossover, i remind you, that's not what this is. this is an introduction to the a/b/o universe at large and also in my stories specifically. this was not beta'd extensively, but my dear[lexi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/th3f4ng1rl) did lend a hand in writing it. hats off to lexi. let's go._

So. You want to know more about the A/B/O universe.

 

Yes, that is why we are here. I’ve put too much effort into my works and maybe you don’t know the details of the strange trope that is Alpha/Beta/Omega ‘verse. If you don’t know who I am, I am your friendly neighborhood angst and/or trash queen, and I write a lot of A/B/O Stucky. In fact, I have an entire series that is nothing but A/B/O Stucky and angst. There’s some fluff coming up, though, I swear. I also write a lil’ bit of Harry Potter, some Lord of the Rings, I once wrote a Pentatonix fic for a friend and some Phanfics for that same friend. (Disclaimer, I no longer write real-people fiction bc I’m not a wee fangirl anymore.) This primer is a basic overview of Alpha/Beta/Omegaverse, how it works, how it physically works, and then some sociology of my A/B/O universe. There are some things that are specific to my works only and I’ll mention them as they come up, but the basics are the basics. Please note that I am not a medical professional, an expert in physiology of any kind, and my only qualification is my B in Human Anatomy at community college a year ago.

 

Starters, WHATEVER YOU DO NEVER ABBREVIATE ALPHA/BETA/OMEGA AS “abo.” That is a slur referring to the Aboriginal people of Australia. So, we don’t say “abo,” we say “A-B-O” or “A/B/O” or “Alpha/Beta/Omega.” I prefer a/b/o. So there’s that. Remember that. Keep it in your mind and you will be wise.

 

Proper starters, what is a/b/o? So, basic knowledge, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics or ‘verse is what’s known as a trope of fanfiction. Etymology time, what’s a trope? You know that “soulmates AU wherein everyone sees black and white until they meet their soulmate/wherein nobody ages until they meet their soulmate/you have a tattoo that is the first/last thing your soulmate says to you.” That’s a basic example of a trope in the fanfiction world. A trope, according to my assistant Google, is “a figurative or metaphorical use of a word or expression” or “a significant or recurrent theme; a motif.”[[ 1 ](https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS716US716&ei=Ih1-W4rkDI-dsAeKyqXIDw&q=definition+trope&oq=definition+trope&gs_l=psy-ab.3..35i39k1j0i20i263k1j0l2j0i22i10i30k1j0i22i30k1l5.58805.59375.0.59542.5.5.0.0.0.0.129.438.2j2.4.0....0...1c.1.64.psy-ab..1.4.433....0.43Nzn0BMuEM)] In fanfiction, tropes are some of the basic premises for an individual story. Again, soulmates AU, or perhaps that AU where everyone’s into BDSM and the government regulates Doms, Subs, and Switches, or Sentinel/Guide Au, et cetera.

 

Now you know what a trope is, what’s Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics? On the surface, it’s almost entirely a porn trope. You’ll see more than one “Fuck or Die” fic in the Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics tag, but what you’ll really see is “Mating Cycles/In Heat.” Heat (or rut) is one of the defining aspects of A/B/O as a trope. What do I mean by heat? You know how most mammals have mating seasons, say, you have an unspayed female cat or dog every now and then they’ll just start screaming for attention and do little more than that? That’s the concept; humans now have mating cycles.

 

Usually, in fics you only see Omegas going through heat, but once in a blue moon, an author will say an Alpha is in heat and well I guess that’s just what you’re doing now. Typically, you have an Omega who goes into heat and their corresponding Alpha goes into a rut. What’s a rut? It’s the same thing only for Alphas. We can get into the nitty-gritty of heat and rut later.

 

Other defining aspects of A/B/O as a trope. Everyone smells. Not bad, and both physically and as a verb. Everyone has a heightened sense of smell and everyone smells different. So, say you, my friend, are a random Beta standing on a street corner in Baltimore. (Wait, why _Baltimore_ you ask? Aren’t you a Stucky writer?? Why not New York? To that, I say: Fuck you. We’re in Baltimore.) Why are you a Beta? Okay, designations, I’ll get to that in a second. You’re a rando standing on a street corner in Baltimore during the middle of rush hour. A hundred people walk by you. All of them have distinct scents, and you, as a member of this universe, can tell which person’s an Omega, which one’s an Alpha, which is Beta, and so on. You can smell who’s pregnant, who’s in heat, who’s rutting, who’s on the edge of or just finished heat/rut, and who hasn’t showered in a while. Wait. You can tell that irl. Never mind that, it doesn’t matter.

 

For some authors, more than just physical attributes are smelly. I like to think you can smell basic emotions, like fear, anger, joy, distress, because dogs can and dogs have a lot of influence on A/B/O. That’s my next point.

 

The glorious and almighty knot! In A/B/O, we have special snowflakes called Alphas. Why are Alphas special? Because they, invariably, have giant dongs. And those giant dongs have a special feature: When the Alpha gets hard or comes, depending on the writer, that Alpha dong will develop a knot! What do I mean by knot? Well, because this is something you don’t need to have in your Google history and I already do, I’ll tell you in blunt terms what the irl equivalent is. Male dogs, and wolves, after they ejaculate, develop what’s called a knot. According to Wikipedia, “Male canids have a bulbus glandis at the base of their penises…  During coitus the bulbus glandis swells up and results in a 'tie' (the male and female dogs being tied together).”[[ 2 ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canine_penis)] So, literally, a knot. Depending on the writer, an Alpha will knot only during rut or all the time. That Alpha’s dong will inflate, usually at the base of the shaft or in the middle, into the knot, which gets stuck inside their Omega partner’s vagina/anus until it deflates. Or you yank it out. Which is painful for both parties.

 

So, those are the defining aspects of A/B/O. You have Alphas, Omegas, Betas. Omegas have mating cycles where they become horny lil bitches, Alphas have giant dongs that inflate, and Betas – Betas are just there, chillin’. What’s special about Betas? Well, you, my friend, are what’s special about Betas. Betas are just normal human beings. The guys don’t have knots and the girls don’t have heats. They’re just there. We’ll talk Betas and social issues later, this is the basics of A/B/O.

 

Congrats, you’ve completed level one of this Alpha/Beta/Omegaverse primer. Give yourself a gold star and a pat on the back. Or neither. Up to you. Before we move onto level two, which gets into the nitty-gritty of physiology in A/B/O worlds, if you’re curious about the origins of A/B/O, I recommend reading this other primer, [ _Alphas, Betas, Omegas: A Primer_ ](https://archiveofourown.org/works/403644/chapters/665489) _._ It also gets into the statistics of A/B/O use in the various fandoms and explains why werewolves are so popular in A/B/O. (Somehow, it’s not because of muscles.)

 

Gold Star achieved, let’s move onto physiology. Human beings are subtly different in A/B/O than irl. The standard human is the Beta, so you and me, ducky, we’re Betas without trying. Some authors (okay maybe just the one series and it would be [ _Heat Wave_ ](https://archiveofourown.org/series/631238) by [ xantissa ](https://archiveofourown.org/users/xantissa/pseuds/xantissa) and [ cleo4u2 ](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cleo4u2/pseuds/cleo4u2)) give Betas the Power of Chill, where Betas can, at will, produce calming pheromones. How does that work? I’m not sure, you’ll have to ask xantissa and cleo4u2. Maybe Betas just randomly start smelling like lavender, I don’t know.

 

But, let’s talk pheromones. What are pheromones? Again, Google says this: “a chemical substance produced and released into the environment by an animal, especially a mammal or an insect, affecting the behavior or physiology of others of its species.”[[ 7 ](https://www.google.com/search?q=pheromones+definition&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS716US716&oq=pheromones+def&aqs=chrome.2.69i57j0l5.3815j0j1&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8)] Do humans have pheromones? Well… Eh? Sort of? Do they do anything, though? Science is Unclear™ about this. (Lexi says they do, but they’re not very prominent. Like, you don’t smell it, your brain just registers it and says “Cool.”) Do humans have distinguishable pheromones in A/B/O? Yes!

 

In A/B/O, there’s a host of typical human pheromones. First, you’ve got Alpha, Omega, or Beta. These pheromones simply allow the sniffer of the person projecting them to tell what designation they are. (Wait, what is designation again? Okay, should have done that earlier: Designation is either Alpha, Omega, or Beta. It’s equal to biological sex physiology wise. More on that later.) Once you’ve smelled the pheromone that tells you if a person is an Alpha, an Omega, or a Beta, there are other, probably more subtle ones. I’m not sure if biological sex has its own pheromone, I don’t think it would, but that’s up to interpretation for the individual author. Other typical pheromones include: Heat, rut, pregnancy, lactation, sexual arousal, and probably emotions. Why is lactation included? Lactation is actually a natural birth control, so I think it makes sense to say you’d be able to smell if an Omega or Beta woman was lactating. Plus, have you been around a lactating person before? Just the baby’s level of chill while eating resonates throughout the room. Breastfeeding’s cool, guys.

 

Speaking of lactation, the crowning achievement of the A/B/O universe. Male Pregnancy. Also called Mpreg, male pregnancy is exactly what it sounds like. In A/B/O, you meet a male Omega – for the sake of simplicity, let’s say it’s Steve Rogers. Introduce yourself, Steve.

 

“Hi,” Steve announces with an awkward wave. “I’m a male Omega and it’s inconvenient!”

 

So Steve is a male Omega. That means he gets heats, he can get pregnant, he can lactate, and he has a self-lubricating anus. His corresponding Alpha is Bucky Barnes, because in this house we ship Stucky. Introduce yourself, Bucky.

 

“Hey,” Bucky says. “I’m a male Alpha and it’s actually pretty convenient.”

 

More on Male/Alpha-dominance in society later. Let’s say Bucky, who is the OG Thot, sees Steve doing something attractive, say, breathing. Bucky, as a knothead Alpha, says to Steve: “Hey, sugar, you come here often?”

 

Somehow, that line works on Steve. We’re not here to judge Steve. (Lexi chimes in to say: “Uh, bullshit, yes we are. I’m an American, isn’t it my job to judge Steve Rogers?” and “Honestly, though, let’s be real: Bucky could say anything to Steve and it’d work on him. He could say ‘Ya like potatoes?’ and Steve would be DTF.” Is she wrong? You decide.) We’re here to see what happens in Steve’s body as he becomes sexually aroused.

 

So, Bucky drops a shitty line. “Ya like jazz, Rogers?” Now Steve is horny. Let’s forget the porn and, Magic Schoolbus style, see what his anus is doing.

 

There are a lot of different takes on the physiology of male Omegas. Sometimes, you’ll see male Omegas with both a vagina and a penis. Sometimes, the male Omega will give birth through the penis. (Let’s be real, that sounds painful.) But, as the male body already has a hole which penises can be put into, the simplest thing to do is say that a male Omega gives birth through the back door. Thus, assbabies.

 

So, think of it this way. The male Omega needs a uterus. Where does evolution/a higher power put that uterus? Well, it got stuck above the bladder in females, so that seems a logical place to put it in males. What about ovaries? Males have scrotums to hold their testicles instead, so why not stick the ovaries there? What about the prostate? Well, it’s still there preventing urine from entering ejaculate. Does a male Omega need to ejaculate? Well, I don’t see a reason why he wouldn’t, but at the same time, a male Omega is there to be impregnated, rather than do the impregnating. It depends on the writer, but in my universe, male Omega ejaculate has no sperm and is mostly fluid to be used as a further lubricant. How does the uterus connect to the ovaries/testicles and to the anus?

 

Alright. It’s time for pictures.

  
  

 

As you see above, the typical anatomy of male and female humans is basic. So, we take the male Omega, Steve, we look at his guts, and we’re gonna see a uterus on top of his bladder. We take the female Omega – Natasha, introduce yourself real quick:

 

“Hi,” Natasha says flatly. “I’m a female Omega and regardless of convenience, I can kill you with my little finger.”

 

– and we see a uterus on top of her bladder. Funny story, we do not see ovaries because she had hers removed by the Red Room. Presumably. When she was sterilized. Anyway. Steve has balls. I’m going to say that his ovaries are in his nutsack, and where the vas deferens connects to the testis and then to the seminal vesical/bulbourethral gland/prostate gland in our Alpha Bucky, instead, in Steve, it’s a fallopian tube, it connects to an ovary and then to the uterus. For Natasha, she once upon a time _had_ ovaries, but they were inside her body. Steve’s are outside his body, so I’m just going to say that evolution made his balls tougher than Bucky’s and he takes better care of them.

 

Now how does the uterus connect to the anus? Here, we have to fabricate a new tube. I’m not a biologist, a gynecologist, or a medical professional of any kind so I’m going to be very, very vague. I say that the anus connects to the uterus via the male vagina. (Note, the medical term vagina refers to the tube that connects the uterus to the outside of the body, the body part you’re thinking of is actually the vulva.) So the uterus has a tube, it’s called a vagina, it connects to the anus in a Y branch. One part of the Y is the rectum, the other is the male vagina. At the fork, there are sphincters. When one sphincter is in use, the other is closed. So when the rectum is in use, the sphincter connecting to the vagina is closed, and when the vagina is in use, the sphincter to the rectum is closed.

 

(EDIT 8/31/18: a reader has told me that this is a thing that exists already and is called a Cloaca. I didn't know that bc I haven't studied the animal kingdom since middle school, where, in my Christian 5th-8th grade textbook, genitals did not yet exist. See, that wasn't so hard.)

 

(edit 2, 9/5/18: i can't believe i forgot to say this, but you realize that if Steve can pop a baby out of his ass, he can also menstruate. And he probably can't use tampons, which really sucks. I'm sorry, Steve.)

 

This is the point where we stop and ask ourselves: Did we really just think out the physiology of assbabies? Yes, yes we did. This is a no judgment household. I actually thought all that through, so really, the only one we can judge is me. Pls, don’t, I am a sensitive little.

 

How does the anus lubricate itself? Well, back to Bucky and his shitty lines. He says: “Hey, so, you wanna do it?” to Steve and Steve is like: “Yeah, sure, lemme finish this and then we’re good to go.” Steve is now becoming sexually aroused. Again, we’re not judging Steve. What happens? First, the sphincter connecting to his rectum closes. Second, the sphincter to the vagina (remember, that’s what the tube is called, not the outer body part) opens. In the typical female vagina, lubrication comes from the Bartholin’s gland, two glands located between the vagina and the vulva.[[ 8 ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartholin%27s_gland)] For Steve, those glands are likely located beyond the sphincter connecting the vaginal tube to the anus. For my universe, I like to think that the fluid produced by male Omega Bartholin’s glands is a natural antibacterial, just so there’s no cross-contamination between the vaginal tube and the rectum where they connect at the anus, but that’s not something I’ve seen other A/B/O writers include. Granted, I haven’t seen other A/B/O writers actually sit down and work out the physiology of male Omegas, either, so I offer any prospering A/B/O writer to take this work as their A/B/O Bible and go from there.

 

So, there you have it. Male Omega physiology. A few other notes, male pregnancy works the same as regular pregnancy. You insert Tab A (A for Alpha) into Slot O (O for Omega) and if you’re lucky/unlucky, it creates a new human being. Lactation? Well, let’s assume that Steve does legitimately have tits, they’re just really small when he’s not lactating. Regular women experience breast growth during later pregnancy and breast shrinkage (not always though) after they’ve finished breastfeeding, so male Omegas would likely see something similar. Probably, they wouldn’t be able to breastfeed as long as female Omegas or female Betas, but evolution could give them a leg up and give them naturally more nutritious breast milk. You might have seen a short line about that in [ _missing in action_ ](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14042829/chapters/32454933) _._

 

Let’s go back to talking about pheromones. I mentioned that there were some not so basic ones, which would mainly be emotions. Like wolves, the humans of the A/B/O universe can now smell your fear. And your sweat. And possibly other emotions. In my fic [ _edges blurred_ ](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13689492/chapters/31443057) _,_ there is also a specific distress scent and an even more specific distress scent from an Omega that causes issues between Steve and Bucky. Why does that happen?

 

Let’s break it down to cavemen. Our Caveman Alpha Bucky is concerned with food and survival. He meets Caveman Omega Steve, and suddenly he’s concerned with food, survival, and Omega. Caveman Omega Steve, when upset, smells different and it makes Caveman Alpha Bucky worried. As an evolutionary advantage, Omegas produce a distress pheromone that can and will upset those around them, particularly: A, Alphas, B, mothers, and C, other Omegas. Think about how babies cry and humans start getting agitated and must Fix The Situation™. In _edges blurred,_ it’s an issue because part of Bucky’s Winter Soldier training involved an Omega woman who could manipulate her own scent to create a distress scent and now Steve’s distress scent can sometimes trigger him into a Winter Soldier headspace. But this isn’t about Depressed-Long-Bean!Steve and Winter-Soldier!Bucky’s mental health, moving on.

 

In A/B/O, you will often see people smelling like nice things that don’t make a lot of sense? But we’re rolling with it? Example, my Steve smells like gingerbread cookies baking. My Bucky smells like specifically the smoke from cedar and applewood chips plus a faint herb undertone. People actually smell like these things in A/B/O. A quote from Lexi: “Imagine walking up to someone and they smell like gingerbread? Like, maybe I don’t wanna fuck you but can we just be friends??? Because you smell like cookies??? (I wanna smell like cookies…)”

 

Where does this sweet cookie smell come from? You’ve seen the phrase scent gland, correct? So, typically, you’ve got scent glands in your neck and in your wrists. Simply put, they produce the pheromones that say “I smell like cookies” “I’m pregnant” “I’m horny” “I haven’t showered” – no wait, that’s the armpit, never mind that last one. Scent glands are generally in both wrists, and maybe on both sides of the neck. Personally, I say they’re on only one side of the neck. These glands produce pheromones, which are put into the natural oils of the skin, so the face, fingers, and palms are highly concentrated with scent. The skin surfacing the gland themselves are also rich in pheromones, but not in oils, more… just there, we’ll leave it there because I don’t want to put more logic into it.

 

Now, let’s discuss mating cycles, because that’s next on my mental list and I don’t have anything else to say about pheromones. Betas are the normal humans, so female Beta have the typical menstrual cycle and males don’t have anything. Alphas have ruts, and ruts can happen either as a cycle of their own or are triggered by smelling an Omega in heat. My A/B/O universe has it the second way, Alphas rut only when they smell an Omega in heat.

 

Omegas in heat. What to say about them? Let’s talk to Steve again:

 

“Do I have to?” Steve whines.

 

Yes, yes, you do. Depressed-Long-Bean!Steve here is our typical Omega. Sort of. He’s not on suppressants as of the last chapter of _edges blurred_ I posted, and in fact, recently had a heat. In fact, he recently had two. A fun unique factor about my A/B/O universe is that Omegas have two kinds of heats: Stress and Natural.

 

Stress is what it sounds like. It’s a heat caused by stress. If you read [_intertwined_](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13423143/chapters/30760317) _,_ that’s what happened at the end of it. Stress heats are not common and they’re caused by severe emotional stress. It’s basically, the body sees that the mind is so freaked out it can’t express its need for help, decides the answer to this is tons and tons of oxytocin and induces a random heat. They’re inconvenient, strange, shorter than natural heats and aren’t part of the normal fertility cycle.

 

Natural heats are different. They occur on a natural cycle, much like menstruation in females Beta. Some information was revealed on these cycles in _edges blurred,_ but for the sake of clarification, I’ll assume you haven’t read it or don’t remember. The way I’ve figured it, heats happen anywhere from 3 to 5 times per year on average. They typically last 3 to 7 days, and afterwards, are followed by a period lasting 5 to 12 days. Yes, that’s a period that lasts up to 12 days, but it only happens up to 5 times per year. Trade-offs. Heat is triggered by the body’s natural fertility being at its peak. The body sees that it’s at a prime spot to become pregnant, so it starts screaming about sex.

 

Literally. Let’s look back at Steve. When his body is at its most fertile, he begins pre-heat. It’s his body giving him warning that he needs to set up for about a week and find an Alpha to take care of him during the actual heat. I don’t have enough knowledge about human biology to tell you what hormones or whatever are milling around in him, just the outward symptoms. Pre-heat starts with fever, increased appetite, thirst, and restlessness. Before that, you have nesting.

 

What’s nesting? If you’ve read a whole bunch of A/B/O, you may not see nesting in every one of them. Sometimes you’ll only see it while the Omega is pregnant, sometimes while the Omega is in heat, or right before it starts. I like to think nesting is a longer period that happens five to three weeks before the heat itself or lasts the length of a pregnancy. Nesting is, on the basic level, where the Omega seeks out higher levels of comfort and safety and typically try to surround themselves with as many blankets, pillows, and other soft things as possible. If the Omega has an Alpha, that Alpha will be required to make everything smell like them in order to satisfy the Omega’s need for comfort. This would be why Steve steals all of Bucky’s shirts and sweaters while he’s nesting. To the caveman in Steve’s hindbrain, Alpha = Safe, so soft blankets, pillows, and clothes that smell like Bucky = Safe.

 

So, there’s nesting, and then there’s pre-heat, and then heat itself. Heat is a biological drive for sex but specifically penetration in order to result in pregnancy. That’s basically it. (I’ll talk about my theories on heat’s origins later.) What about rut? I’ve written two things that include heat and rutting so far, which are _intertwined/edges blurred_ and [ _no widows tonight_ ](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15613404/chapters/36251931) _._ Let’s focus on _no widows_ because it has heat/rutting both with and without a child.

 

Why would that be important, you ask? Well, think about it this way, if you have kids, are you going to send them to their grandparents for a week while Ma does nothing but sleep and demand Pa fuck them? Well, if you can, but sometimes you can’t. If you’ve read _no widows,_ you’ll remember that when Bucky gets home from basic training, Steve’s already started heat. You’d think that when Bucky enters the house, he’d run off to go fuck Steve immediately. Which is not what he does. The first thing he does is throw their son over his shoulder and go check all the locks in the house.

 

This is where it’s more my own theories than general knowledge. My theory is this, once an Alpha/Omega couple has children, the Omega becomes calmer when they have heat (my grandmother always said that you should let a female cat have at least one litter because it will mellow her out), but it’s the Alpha that changes the most. Back to Caveman Bucky, his Caveman Steve is a useless lump of horny Omega, but once they have kids, what’s he gonna do with the babies they’ve already had? Ignore them? No! The Omega’s body is concerned with having more children, but the Alpha is concerned with making sure everything of theirs is protected. Their cave, their cave children, and whatever else cavemen had.

 

So Alphas while rutting aren’t as concerned with fucking as they are with caring. This is where, I theorize, the Alpha Voice – a tone of voice that naturally persuades Omegas and sometimes Betas and sometimes even other Alphas to obey – came from. An Omega in heat wants to either be asleep or be fucked, but food and water are still necessary? So, let’s say that Alphas developed the ability to cajole their Omega into staying awake long enough to eat and drink. Then it became useful to use on the kids and then uh dickheads became a thing and humans were no longer living in caves by then, and Alpha voices got used for other purposes than Bucky convincing Steve to drink damn some water already. More on that grossness another time.

 

Now, an Alpha who has not had children might be more concerned with fucking, but let’s look back at _edges blurred,_ way back at [ chapter 13 ](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13689492/chapters/34898603). Steve goes into heat at an inconvenient time, while being in the hands of HYDRA. Very inconvenient. Bucky busts in and rescues him just in time for him to properly start heat, so no nastiness happens. Steve is, however, chained down, in heat, and very pleased to have Bucky around and showing off his musculature. Bucky, on the other hand? Bucky is concerned with getting Steve out and to a safe place first. Even once he’s freed Steve and gotten him alone, Bucky is not DTF yet. (Steve is not pleased about that, FYI.) Bucky makes Steve wait until they’re back in their apartment until he’s cleared the area, ensured that they are at that point safe, and then he fucks Steve.

 

And in the aftermath, we see Steve’s heat end, but Bucky doesn’t stop rutting. He stays up, does research about how to take care of Steve post-heat, and in general is a paranoid lil’ bitch. It’s only after Steve’s done sleeping off the strain of heat that he finally stops rutting. Why? Well, back to Cavemen, Steve has a heat and sleeps for three days, only waking up to eat, drink, or use the bathroom. Bucky’s got to defend their cave, Steve, and potentially their children by himself. That would be easier if he’s rutting.

 

So, heat makes Omegas horny and rut makes Alphas twitchy. Again, Betas are just over here, doing nothing special, having monthly but only 3 to 7 day periods in the case of uterus-owners.

 

So, what’s the difference between designation and biological sex? Well, we’ve discussed male Omegas (and, okay, real quick: female Alphas have their testicles inside their body, they don’t have functional uteruses in my universe, in others, sometimes they do, and I feel like all female Alphas are just squirters and that’s how they ejaculate). Male Omegas are still male, despite having a uterus and ovaries. They have penises and male secondary sex characteristics. Here’s the ringer: What about transgender people?

 

Here’s the thing, biological sex and gender are not the same thing and don’t always match, even in A/B/O. When you add another layer of sexual attributes, designation, does biological designation always match the person’s internal self? As far as I’m concerned, I don’t see any reason why someone couldn’t be trans-designation, but I have never seen it used in an A/B/O fic. (edit 9/25/2018: after posting this, i found [Wish I'd Never Gone](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15229299/chapters/35322807) which mentioned a trans-designation character, but only in passing.) Transgender people, where biological sex and gender don’t match, still exist – obviously – and I think that would be separate from designation. So, you could have a trans Omega man or a trans Alpha woman, vice versa, and so on. Again, Betas are just normal people, so the average trans person irl would be the same as a trans Beta person. (And, just to be clear, you can be trans Beta.)

 

So designation and biological sex are not the same thing. How do they interact? It’s a very murky subject to think of. The way I’ve thought about it, they’re not the same thing, but they work together and are equal to each other. Biologically.

 

But, Moony, you say, you claim that in your universe, male Omegas and female Alphas are really rare! Why is that? The answer is simple! Genetics.

 

Think of it this way, designation is in your DNA alongside your biological sex. It’s determined way, way early in the pregnancy, whenever sex is determined. There are two chromosomes from each parent, a sex and a designation. They work together and create one of six options: Alpha, male or female, Omega, male or female, and Beta, male or female. So the baby has two sex chromosomes and two designation chromosomes, but how does the DNA decide on which designation to pick? For sex, it’s simple, either the father gives an X or a Y and you get a male or a female, the mother can only give an X.

 

So, how does designation pick a side? Let’s think about blood types, then, which, funny enough, are A, B, or O. O is recessive, so in order to get that blood type, you have to have OO genes. A and B are dominant, but they’re not dominant over each other, so sometimes you get AA, BB, or AB. Let’s apply that to designation, but instead of O, or Omega, being recessive, it’s Beta. Why’s Beta the recessive one? Well, let’s get into that fully with sociology, because it has a lot to do with ethnic groups. So, Beta is recessive, so any time an A or an O shows up, the B bows out. A and O are not dominant over each other, but we don’t have people who are both Alpha and Omega, do we? How does that work? The way I’ve theorized it, A and O chromosomes work with the sex chromosomes to determine dominance. If the sex of the child is XY, then A is dominant. If the sex of the child is XX, then O is dominant. So, in order to have a male Omega, you have to have a biological sex of XY, but you cannot have an Alpha chromosome.

 

So how did we get Steve, a male Omega? Let’s look at _missing in action_ real quick: Steve’s father there, in addition to being a douchebag, is a Beta, and so his mother can predict that Steve will be an Omega because of that. In order to be a Beta, Joseph only had B genes to pass down. Sarah could have had AO genes and then could have given an A to Steve, but that’s not what happened, Steve got an O from her, a B from Joseph, and so became an Omega. Savvy?

 

Finally, we get to Bonding. Or Mating. You’ll have seen the Soul Bond before, but in A/B/O, we specifically have mating/bonding. It involves more biting than the typical soulmate AU. This is a mandatory break point, because I’m physically stopping to go get some food and you should go hydrate or something. BRB.

 

Okay, I’ve had ramen with madzoon (which is homemade Armenian yogurt, it’s Armenian bc I made it and I’m Armenian), and now it’s time to discuss soul bonding in A/B/O. Bucky bites Steve’s scent gland – typically the one in his neck but ya never know I heard of people having scent glands in their hips and biting there – and now Steve is bonded to Bucky. Or, sometimes, Bucky bites Steve’s scent gland and then Steve must bite Bucky’s in return. Either way, the result is they’re now bonded. They are also mates or bondmates. Bucky could also call Steve “my bonded” which sounds very romantic and Jane Austen-esque, so you know he won’t do it. Steve would call Bucky “my bonded” and Bucky would answer with “No homo” or something equally dumb. It’s usually done during sex, sometimes it can only be done during heat/rut or is just stronger when done during heat/rut. Why must it be done during sex? Well, think about it, Bucky has to bite all the way into Steve’s scent gland, that’s gotta hurt. If Bucky does it right as Steve’s orgasming, doesn’t hurt so much, does it? Theoretically. More on the bite later.

 

What does this accomplish? Well, the basic premise of bonding in A/B/O is they’re now tied to one another on a physical and emotional level. You’ll often see bonded pairs being able to share basic emotions, track down locations, and detect when one of the two is about to do something Jumping-Out-Of-A-Plane-With-No-Parachute level of stupid. It fosters connection and intimacy between the bonded pair.

 

So how does it happen? Well, yes, you have to bite each other, but that’s not all there is to it? Well… Kinda? I haven’t seen a lot of authors going into the nitty-gritty details of how it works, but it bonding does have a physical aspect to it, so it has to change physiology on some level. After all, once an Omega is bonded, other people will (usually) be able to smell the difference between their scent post-bonding and pre-bonding. Plus, that Omega will typically start to smell more and more like their Alpha, but that might just be the fact that they spend more time together post-bonding. And the whole biting thing, it leaves a scar behind, so it’s got to change some stuff physically.

 

Here’s my theory: Bucky bites Steve’s cervical (cervical meaning of the neck) scent gland, but he actually has to bite into the scent gland itself. That means his teeth have to break the skin and bite into the gland itself. Essentially, Bucky’s now a vampire and Steve’s just been turned. Is there actually blood? Well, maybe? I’m choosing not to think about that. But Bucky bites into Steve’s scent gland, and in the process, Bucky gets his saliva into Steve’s scent gland. This is just my theory, and it’s shady, but Bucky gets his saliva into Steve’s scent gland and that causes a reaction, so there’s something about Alpha saliva that triggers a change in Omega physiology. It’s not a lot, but it allows the emotional and physical connection. Perhaps oxytocin, dopamine, and other neurotransmitters and hormones associated with sex have to do with it, but I have seen one story where the Alpha bit the Omega outside of sex and the bond still established. (It hurt like a bitch, though.)

 

The ins and outs of how bonding works in A/B/O is a lot like Midi-Chlorians; it’s there, it does shit, do we know how it works, no? Is it science? Is it magic? Who knows! All we know is Steve and Bucky, or whatever Alpha/Omega pair you have, are bonded connected for life.

 

But wait, do you literally mean for life? Um. Yes? But what if Steve changes his mind! you cry. The answer to that is: He doesn’t. It’s Steve and Bucky. But – No. It’s _Steve and Bucky_ they’re _not_ changing their minds.

 

But what if the bonded pair that isn’t Stucky changes their mind later in life? Well. Sometimes. Depending on the author, the bond can be broken at a later date. Harkening (yes I just used that word deal with it) back to xantissa and cleo4u2’s _Heat Wave,_ in their universe, Bucky’s the Omega and Steve’s the Alpha. No spoilers because it’s a really good series and despite its length, you should read it, Bucky has to break more than one bond in his life. How does he do this? He just thinks really hard about how much he hates it and then it breaks. Sometimes it's painful. I know that the last time Bucky did it in _Heat Forged_ was painful _to me._ (Yes, I feel pain okay I’m not soulless I actually cried once or twice while writing _no widows_. Though, that might have just been exhaustion. Whatever.) That’s one example of breaking a bond.

 

My theory goes more like this, because I feel like it would be more painful (be real, what did you expect from me?). Because I refuse to break up Stucky, we’re gonna grab um lemme think uh Dean and Cas! I’m not as attached to them. Dean’s our Alpha and Cas is the Omega, they bond, and later, they decide a divorce is in the cards for them. Cas goes to Sam, who is also an Alpha, and asks him to bite him. No sex, because it’s meant to be painful. So Sam, out of respect to his brother and brother-in-law, bites Cas and the whole Alpha-saliva-Omega-gland does its thing, but instead of bonding Cas to Sam, it just breaks the bond between Dean and Cas. It leaves both Cas and Dean with some severe emotional hurt for quite a while, particularly Dean, as to the caveman in Dean, Cas just betrayed him by seeking out another Alpha.

 

So, bonding is pretty serious. How serious? Well, because I’m not against this, let’s say Steve and Bucky bond, and then Bucky dies. Legitimately. Steve is now left with a bond that’s one-sided. He’s going to have that bond the rest of his life unless he asks another Alpha to bite him, which might be more painful than feeling the one-sided bond; the whole betrayal thing and all. Steve essentially has an emotional black hole tied to him. What does Steve do?

 

Well… He either, A: Breaks the bond, betraying Bucky, and carries on with his life. B: Puts up with that emotional black hole the rest of his life. Or C: He… dies. Of heartbreak or depression. What’s Steve most likely to do? C. You know him. He noped out on life after Bucky fell from the train and they weren’t even bonded then. (#SteveRogersNeedsAHug. Bucky, go hug your mans.) (Bucky has hugged his mans.)

 

Then, bonding is very, very serious, does everyone do it? I would say no. In modern times, at least. Back when divorce was a Sin™, I feel like people would have bonded on their wedding nights and then if something went wrong with the marriage they sucked it up and suffered. Once feminism happened and divorce wasn’t so shameful, bonding rates probably dropped. Couples probably marry and then after a few years if they feel like it’s appropriate, then they bond. Sometimes, they don’t do it at all. Did Bucky and Steve from _missing in action_ bond? Yeah, after their second kid was born. When did Bucky and Steve from _no widows_ bond? Probably at the same time Bucky knocked Steve up. What about _edges blurred_ ? Stress heat at the end of _intertwined._ Is bonding the end-all, be-all of intimacy? Well, kind of. But at the same time, no. It depends on your outlook.

 

Here ends the physiology of Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics. Next up, sociology and evolutionary trends, along with some more specific traits of my A/B/O universe. I’m going to sleep now. Thank you.


	2. so, why is sam wilson always a beta?

Alright, so, here we are, delving into the psychology and sociology of A/B/O in particularly my stories. There’s a lot to cover, so we’re starting at the beginning.

 

Literally, the dawn of time. Depending on whether you subscribe to evolutionary theories that life began in Africa or the creationist theories and life began in the Middle East, life began somewhere and it wasn’t Europe. To avoid conflict between those two things, because religion plays a large part in some of my fics, we’re gonna go with the dawn of time post-Flood, Noah’s peoples have crashed or Homo sapiens have just evolved, and life begins in Africa either way. Why are we starting here?

 

Why did Alphas and Omegas become a thing? Why is fever a symptom of heat? Why is Beta a recessive gene?

 

My theory: Betas were here first or Noah and his family were all Betas. As humans spread across the globe, they found that uh some places are cold? The kids back in Africa, India, the Middle East, Central America, they’re just fine taking their clothes off to procreate, but over in Scandinavia, Russia, Canada, those places, it’s fucking cold. Now, regardless of whether you’re a creationist or an atheist, microevolution is a fact and can happen in humans. Wait, what do you mean by microevolution? Google says this: “evolutionary change within a species or small group of organisms, especially over a short period.”[ [ 1 ](https://www.google.com/search?q=microevolution&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS716US716&oq=microevolution&aqs=chrome..69i57.264j0j1&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8) ] The evolution that says all life began with single-celled organisms is macroevolution, but the evolution that says Jack Russell Terriers came from wolves is micro. Savvy?

 

So, humans in cold climates are cold. Evolution or higher powers lends a hand, and humans in cold climates develop some differences. As females become fertile, they develop fevers and get super horny. As their corresponding males see this happening, they develop increased stamina to keep up. The females’ immune system backs off so they can get pregnant easier and wind up sleeping a lot after their fertile period ends so their immune system can catch up. The males get super twitchy while their corresponding females sleep. You give it a few generations, and the males become Alphas and the females become Omegas.

 

You give it more time and humans start moving over the globe again. Because Alpha and Omega genes evolved to be dominant, when Vikings mix with Betas say, in Gaul, Gaulish people become Alphas and Omegas. Then the Gauls mix with the Germans, the Germans mix with Italians, Italians mix with Greece, so on and so on, and eventually Alphas and Omegas spread across Europe and Asia. The same happens in North America, spreading to Central America, then to South America, and so on and so on. Betas still happen, because the gene isn’t extinct, it’s just recessive, so every now and then, an Alpha and Omega couple will have a Beta child. It’s still early in human history, so without any other way of understanding how an Alpha and Omega couple could have a child that wasn’t either Alpha or Omega, Beta children are either blessings from the gods or cursed. 

 

But, in say, Africa, and Australia, there wasn’t ever enough cold climates that Alphas and Omegas evolved. So as long as Africa and Australia are isolated, there are no Alphas or Omegas. The rest of the world does what humans do best and sets up social hierarchies, the idea that Beta children are cursed becomes dominant, and then some white boy “discovers” Africa and it’s an entire continent of Betas.

 

Just to be clear, I’m not black and these are my theories. The rest of the world starts interacting with Africa and Australia, and with the dominant idea that Betas are less than, the rest of the world decides that because the African people are Betas, they’re free real estate. The Romans and Greeks do their conquering thing, enslave the African people they capture, and it just spirals from there. Betas become the bottom of the social hierarchy, everything sucks, the Romans start going north, and in Gaul, they find some weirdos.

 

Male Omegas, for some reason, are more common in Celtic families. Why? Betas took a lot longer to be overtaken by Alphas and Omegas there, so the gene is strong in Britain and Ireland. The Romans invade and they find that the oddball male Omegas that were usually killed as cursed or demon children back home happen more often in the foggy climates of Britain and Ireland and aren’t shunned. The Romans go west, and male Omegas are actually common in East Asia, and they’re not shunned there, either. The Romans conquer these places, because they’re the Romans, and do they change their minds about male Omegas? No. No, they don’t. Male Omegas get dropped at the bottom of the social hierarchy with Betas (who are almost exclusively black at this point in history remember that) and at best, are considered exotic fun new toys. 

 

What about female Alphas? The Romans scream “SUCCUBUS!” and kill them. The Catholic Church comes along and encourages this attitude.

 

So, Betas are almost exclusively black. This leads to compound racism and sexism. Female Alphas and male Omegas are demons, that’s mostly just sexism. History progresses the way it does, female Alphas and male Omegas are no longer demons and black people are no longer slaves, but everyone’s still awful. The 20th century comes around. Male Alphas dominate society, female Alphas are clawing their way higher on the social hierarchy to the point that they have more rights than Omegas or Betas on account of being Alphas. Male Omegas are reduced to being weird girls, Betas are still looked down on and equally, so are Black people. There are two World Wars, after World War II, the workforces are filled with Omegas and Beta women. The men come home, the women don’t want to give up their jobs. Second-wave feminism happens, then the Civil Rights movement, then third-wave feminism and the AIDs crisis. We come to the 21st century and fourth-wave feminism, mostly, everyone’s equal. Male Omegas are still struggling to be seen as men and not women, but it’s happening.

 

So, that’s the history of the entire world, I guess. Beta is a recessive gene, Omegas developed heats because it was fucking cold in Siberia, the Romans were awful. Let’s talk scent-marking.

 

Scent-marking is that thing where Bucky gets antsy and to make himself feel better, he hugs Steve and rubs his face all over him. You’ve seen cats rubbing their faces all over their stuff, including their humans, as means of marking their territory. Yes, your cat is declaring you their property when they rub up against you. What does this mean when Bucky does it to Steve?

 

Uh, that exact same thing technically. Alphas are territorial. Back to cavemen, we’ve got Alpha Bucky and Alpha Brock. We don’t like Brock, so he doesn’t get to introduce himself. Brock is an unattached Alpha and a douchebag. He sees Bucky’s cave and inside that cave is pretty male Omega Steve. Brock thinks to himself *grunt grunt-grunt* and decides a good idea would be to go steal that Omega. Steve has a screaming Junior to take care of and is relying on Bucky to defend the cave from the invading Alpha. Brock sneaks up on that cave and gets a faceful of Bucky’s scent, and Brock, a coward, thinks  _ Oh, shit, there’s an Alpha here already my bad _ and runs away. Maybe he’ll come back later after he’s worked up the courage and attempt to steal Steve, but for the meantime, Bucky’s successfully driven off the invading Alpha but marking things with his scent.

 

Now, let’s say Steve’s out gathering nuts and berries with Junior. Brock is still looking to steal himself an Omega. He sneaks up on Steve, outside the cave, and goes to grab him. Again, he gets a faceful of Bucky’s scent and he’s still a coward so he runs away. Steve is safe because he smells like an Alpha already. Junior’s safe because he smells like both his parents. Bucky can protect his family from even a distance.

 

But we’re not in caveman times. Steve is his own person and can punch Brock in the face himself without smelling like Bucky. In fact, this was one of the main points of second-wave feminism. Omegas everywhere stepped up and said they were capable of defending themselves and did not need Alphas to chaperone them everywhere. They did not need their Alphas to scent-mark them every five minutes to warn other Alphas that they were taken. Perfectly reasonable. 

 

But this threatened the Alpha ego. As Omegas established themselves as independent, the Alphas in their lives could either support them or be angry. A lot of them chose anger. Insecure Alphas began insisting on scent-marking their Omega partners despite resistance. It became an almost universally non-consensual act, becoming part of the cycle of domestic abuse. Alphas insist that their Omegas are not capable of protecting themselves and prove it with violence, combining it with gaslighting, the Omega’s defenses are broken down, it’s shitty. It happens so much, people start seeing scent-marking as red flags of abuse.

 

But isn’t scent-marking a gesture of affection?

 

So, in order to understand how scent-marking became both a tool of abuse yet is still a gesture of affection, you gotta see that there are actually two ways to scent-mark. There’s active scent-marking, where Bucky takes his wrist and rubs his scent gland over Steve. Then there’s inactive scent-marking, where Bucky hugs Steve and rubs his face all over him. Active scent-marking is where Bucky stimulates a scent gland and uses that to mark his territory, inactive scent-marking is where Bucky uses prolonged touch to transfer his scent to his territory. The kind of scent marking that became associated with abuse is active, as usually, Alphas use it to mark objects more than people. 

 

Think like this, active scent-marking requires stimulation of a gland. Bucky wants to make his stuff smell like him, but he’s not going to hug it, he’s just going to mark it. Alphas mark their territory, they rub their wrists over doorways and on couches and that’s what they do. That’s not to say Omegas don’t scent-mark, but they tend to prefer inactive scent-marking and to scent-mark their people. 

 

Think of it this way, let’s look at Steve from  _ no widows. _ He’s got lil’ Jamie and lil’ Jamie is an adorable lil’ kid. Steve picks him up, hugs him, and rubs his face into Jamie’s hair. What does Bucky do to scent-mark Jamie? Most often, he ruffles his hair. What does Bucky do to mark Steve? Hugs him and holds onto him for a minute. This is inactive because Bucky’s not the scent gland itself to transfer his scent onto Steve or lil’ Jamie.

 

Inactive scent-marking works through the gestures of affection we already know irl. Hugs, handshakes, shoulder rubs, just touching in general will transfer scent. Ma squeezes the heck out of their kid, Pa ruffles their hair, and the kid has been scent-marked. Does this mean active scent-marking is only used by Pa to mark the furniture? Not necessarily. Back before second-wave feminism, active scent-marking was common, but you didn’t see it in public a lot as it tended to be a more intimate gesture. It really only happened in private because most commonly it happened during sex. You might have seen a tearful Omega being actively scent-marked by their Alpha who was leaving for war, but outside of those situations, it wasn’t done. Once the Alpha ego became threatened and Alphas in general felt insecure in their relationships, they started pushing back against Omega independence by using active scent-marking, turning their Omegas into furniture.

 

So why does Bucky in  _ edges blurred _ use his wrist to mark Steve? Well, this goes back to the caveman thing. Winter-Soldier!Bucky from  _ edges blurred _ has general amnesia, doesn’t know that active scent-marking is usually an intimate thing, and is paranoid that They™ are out to get him and Steve. It satisfies his hindbrain to scent-mark Steve in any way possible, and it just so happens the most efficient way to do it is with his wrist. Is he trying to tell Steve he’s property? No, and as long as Steve understands that that’s not what Bucky means when he actively scent-marks him, then it’s fine. Should they do it in public? They could, but they’re likely to get a few concerned citizens asking if Steve’s okay.

 

But what about the scent gland in the neck, you ask? Is that the same thing? No. Bucky can’t use his neck to scent-mark the couch, and he’s not likely to bare his throat to let Steve nuzzle at his cervical scent gland in public. Is it still Bucky actively scent-marking Steve if Steve’s rubbing his nose into Bucky’s scent gland? Technically, yes, because Bucky’s scent gland is being stimulated to transfer scent from him to Steve. Does it carry the same weight as using the wrist? Nope. 

 

But do Omegas scent-mark things? Not the way that Alphas do, and almost entirely, they only scent-mark people. Why? Think like this, you, dear reader, are one of my ducklings. I am the Mom Friend™ and I want to remind you that I love you and want you to be safe. So, if we were in person, I’d hug you and squeeze the shit out of you. In doing so, I’ve showered you with physical affection and scent-marked you. (Never mind that if A/B/O were real, I’d be an Alpha, that’s not important, I’m still the Mom Friend™.) Omegas will do this with their children and their close friends and family members. If Steve’s stressed, he’ll probably do it more, or if the person he’s Mom’ing is stressed, he’ll do it more. If Steve were nesting, he’d do it more. With Omegas, the gesture is maternal instinct, rather than the urge to defend territory. 

 

So, what is when Steve scent-marks Bucky? That’s not maternal. Here’s the thing, Steve scent-marks Bucky with the subconscious goal of making Bucky scent-mark him in return. There’s still a caveman in Steve’s hindbrain that says Alpha = Safe. So when Steve hugs Bucky and nuzzles his face into him, what he’s doing is encouraging Bucky to do it back. Better yet, Steve goes to hug Bucky and nuzzles into Bucky’s neck, making Bucky actively scent-mark him. Again, this method of active scent-marking is different than using the wrist, because Steve is the one seeking it out. Remember that Alphas using the wrist to scent-mark their Omegas was a largely non-consensual thing.

 

Then why does everyone in  _ edges blurred _ say scent-marking is bad? They’re not, they’re saying active scent-marking is linked to abuse, but Steve doesn’t know the difference between active and inactive scent-marking so he assumes the worst because he’s Steve. And that’s all I have to say about scent-marking.

 

What about the fact that in  _ no widows, _ Jamie calls Steve “mama?” Or that line in  _ missing in action _ where Steve tells baby James that Omegas are always mothers despite their genders? Or that traditional designation roles made Steve wear dresses in  _ no widows _ and before the serum in  _ intertwined/edges blurred? _ Why is it that the major slur for male Omegas is  _ girl-boy? _

 

Forced feminization! It’s all fun and games when Steve got to wear a lovely wedding gown in  _ no widows _ and my dear duckling minttytea drew it, but ultimately, society was forcing him to conform to designation rules that feminized him. Depressed-Long-Bean!Steve of  _ edges blurred _ speaks up about how he went to an all-girls school and wore a skirt as part of his uniform. Tired!Steve of  _ missing in action _ is called a mother despite his children calling him dad. Society decided to stop calling male Omegas demons, but declared that in order to be treated like that, they had to conform to feminine standards.

 

So according to their society, Steve was a second-class woman who was malformed and as such, was also a man. Does this mean he could be with Bucky, also a man? Nope. Steve was a weird man-woman combination, had to wear dresses and skirts and was brought up with the same educations girls got, but he and Bucky were still of the same biological sex and as such, counted as homosexual. 

 

This begs the question: What is homosexual in A/B/O? Bucky and Steve are of the same sex, but different designations, so are they still gay? If Steve were an Alpha, the same as Bucky, they’d definitely be gay, then, right? Yes to both. In both situations, they are homosexual, because designation and biological sex are equal, but not the same thing. So what is it called when you put two Alphas or two Omegas together? Well, I don’t wanna come up with a new word, so it’s still homosexual, it’s just another kind. LGBTQ+ labels all apply to same sex or same designation depending on the person who uses it.

 

Throughout my stories, Steve is bisexual. He’s attracted to male and female Alphas, male and female Betas, but not to other Omegas. He’s attracted to his own gender, but not his own designation. Bucky is pansexual, attracted to all designations and genders. (However, as in this house we stan Stucky, they are destined to love each other no matter what the timeline, and in some timelines, they end up repressing their sexualities and attraction to others so that they only feel for one another. Again, we’re not here for their mental health and some of that would be spoilers, anyway.) So now we know how same sex and same designation attraction works, how did homophobia arise?

 

It started way back with the Romans finding male Omegas in Britain who weren’t shunned. There were far fewer female Alphas in the British Isles, so most male Omegas wound up paired with either female Betas or male Alphas. This was barbaric to the Romans, who dragged a whole bunch of their male Omegas back home to display as spoils of war, because for them, male Omegas and female Alphas had always been demon children. The Romans firmly believed that female Alphas and male Omegas were physical manifestations of succubi and incubi, and when the Christians came along, some were influenced by this idea and agreed with it. Only some, though, and along with other things, that disagreement over male Omegas and female Alphas lead to the split of the Roman Catholic church and the Eastern Orthodox Catholic church. The Roman Catholic church maintained that taking a female Alpha or a male Omega as a spouse was sinful all the way through the “discovery” of America, and it was only in the 16th or 17th centuries that that attitude was amended to same sex Alpha/Omega marriages being sinful, thus forcing female Alphas and male Omegas to partner with each other. The Eastern Orthodox church had no issue with same sex Alpha/Omega pairs, later the Huguenots in France had no issue with same sex Alpha/Omega pairs, and eventually, the Anglican church had no issue with it. By the 20th century, opinions on same sex Alpha/Omega pairs were pretty much 50/50, with many within the Protestant church and the Catholic church starting to accept same sex Alpha/Omega pairs.

 

As seen in  _ no widows, _ the United States started legalizing same sex Alpha/Omega marriages as early as 1942. It was never illegal to begin with in places like Russia or France. East Asia, in Westernization, took the Catholic standpoint, but as the 20th century played out, changed their minds. By the 21st century, same sex Alpha/Omega pairs are almost fully accepted and only a few stubborn traditionalists disagree.

 

That’s just same sex Alpha/Omega pairs, though. What about Alpha/Alpha or Omega/Omega pairs? Or same sex Alpha/Beta or Omega/Beta pairs? What about Betas trying to marry outside their designation at all? Same designation relationships always existed and typically, Betas attempting to marry outside their designation was met with racism before homophobia. In the US, Betas were permitted to marry outside their designation in the 50s, but Alpha/Alpha and Omega/Omega pairs weren’t allowed to marry until the late 90s. The rest of the world had similar trends. 

 

Same sex marriages were a concern in the early 20th century, but it was actually Beta/Omega or Beta/Alpha relationships that had traditionalists up in arms. The idea that Beta fathers would only have Beta children was prominent, and as everyone knew, Beta was the weaker designation. It was compound racism and sexism that lead to disapproval of Betas marrying outside their designation, as black people made up a strong portion of the Beta population, but funnily enough, so did Jews. See where I’m going with this? It wasn’t yet understood that Beta was a recessive gene, and so any children a Beta had with an Alpha or an Omega would end up being Alphas and Omegas, but mixed race children were still highly looked down on. You still had Alphas and Omegas in black communities and when a black Alpha wanted to marry a black Beta woman, there was rarely any trouble with that relationship. Attitudes were similar in Germany, with the Nazi party encouraging Germany First attitudes and claiming that the sneaky Beta Jews were plotting to ruin Germany. 

 

Alpha/Alpha and Omega/Omega relationships weren’t very productive towards filling the earth, but after a while, procreation wasn’t as necessary, so there’s no reason why same designation relationships can’t work. Alphas only rut when they smell an Omega in heat, Omegas can be fooled into thinking they’re being bred with the right thick toy, and beyond that, suppressants exist. The only issue with these is with Alpha/Alpha relationships, and it’s that Alphas are overwhelmingly territorial, so an Alpha can’t move in with another Alpha and feel like that space is shared, but it’s solved by simply seeking out a brand new living space that neither Alpha had claim on before. Easy-peasy, not that big of a deal. 

 

So, there you have it. These are the things I’ve been ranting about to Lexi and some basic starters for an A/B/O universe. Like I’ve said, these are all my theories and don’t apply to every A/B/O story, so if you’re interested in writing your own, feel free to take this base and change things. If you’re just curious how A/B/O works, congrats, you’ve won this non-physical participation award! Go forth and see the world in a new light, because you now have these things in your head and you can’t unsee them. I’ve been your friendly neighborhood angst and/or trash queen, thank you for coming to my TED talk.

**Author's Note:**

> _my citations are not up to MLA or APA standard but this is not a scholarly work, this is how assbabies work, so who cares_
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>  _follow me on[tumblr](http://moonythejedi394.tumblr.com/) or [twitter](https://twitter.com/moonythejedi394)or [reddit](https://www.reddit.com/user/moonythejedi394) bc tumblr is dying_


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